AFC Champions League - Most popular for September 2007
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Urawa Reds are once again four points clear of second placed Gamba Osaka, following Gamba's shock
2-0 home defeat at the hands of Yokohama F. Marinos.
A near-capacity crowd of 19,419 turned out at Expo '70 Stadium on September 16 but the majority
went home stunned as a brace from Daisuke Sakata dented Gamba's title aspirations.
A day earlier, a crowd of 22,675 turned out in Hiroshima - their largest gate of the season, as
Urawa easily disposed of hosts Sanfrecce 4-2, with livewire striker Tatsuya Tanaka taking his goal
tally to eight goals in twelve games since returning from injury.
Urawa Reds manager Holger Osieck remains optimistic about his side's chances of advancing to the
semifinals of the Asian Champions League despite losing hold of a stranglehold on the home-and-away
quarterfinal clash against Jeonbuk Motors on Wednesday night.
The Reds outclassed the reigning ACL champions from start to finish and were up 2-0 heading into
the waning moments of the match at Saitama Stadium when Jeonbuk defender Choi Jin-cheul blazed home
through a maze of players to take the glean off a terrific showing by the home side.
Kawasaki Frontale's exit from the Asian Champions League earlier this week proved what many had
feared about Takashi Sekizuka's men over the last couple of weeks: they're a spent force whose
season has gone the way of a Britney Spears comeback.
Only time will tell how their freefall into irrelevancy in 2007 will affect Frontale in the
foreseeable future, but there's no denying that the team has suffered a major setback.
